I've read a few very negative post about Haiphong on this and other forums.
What's so bad about the place? I'm currently working in a v dull town a few clicks outside Hanoi and thinking of a change. I went down to Haiphong a couple of weekends ago just to look around and it seemed quite a nice town with a number of decent bars and restaurants - paradise compared to where I am now. It's a decent sized place so there must be some opportunities for English teachers. Does anyone know what the local job market is like and if anyone down there is hiring at the moment?

But there certainly are some negative posts on it. I also think that the smaller population would make it less crazy than HCMC or HN, and the air seemed cleaner as well. Plus, the moderation in the winter would be interesting. But a lot of people make it sound terrible. Just passing through, I liked it.

I've read a few very negative post about Haiphong on this and other forums.
What's so bad about the place? I'm currently working in a v dull town a few clicks outside Hanoi and thinking of a change. I went down to Haiphong a couple of weekends ago just to look around and it seemed quite a nice town with a number of decent bars and restaurants - paradise compared to where I am now. It's a decent sized place so there must be some opportunities for English teachers. Does anyone know what the local job market is like and if anyone down there is hiring at the moment?

According to friends of mine that reside there, EVERYBODY'S hiring!!!

Why??

Nobody stays longer than three weeks on average (unless they get married to a local).
I see my friends there about five or six times a year (not a horribly long bus ride from where I reside), it has ALL of the minuses of a big city and none of the plusses and, well, let's see -

1. It's thee most corrupt and crooked city not in Viet Nam, but in all of South East Asia. The Vietnamese Mafia is widely regarded as originating and currently based in Hai Phong and Quang Ninh Province (directly to the north of Hai Phong City). Thusly, this results in the local law enforcement shaking down Tay for much hoi lo ("bribes")! The local police act literally without fear of repercussion, because there is no repercussion there against rogue cops, so they're all rogue cops (whereas, if you are a local cop, well, you'll prolly get suspended or at least yelled at for attempting to shake down a Tay for a bribe in Ha Noi or Ho Chi Minh).

Tay are generally untouchable throughout 98% of Viet Nam....but they are THAT corrupt and THAT ballsey in Hai Phong that this happens routinely....

Street scams and theft literally overwhelm this city. I've been to HCMC a number of times and I go to Ha Noi at least once a month and Da Nang six times a year or so, but, I mean, by comparison - the sheer RATIO of the volume of street scams and theft crimes and such that I have observed and have been a victim of in proportion to the number of residents in Hai Phong is stunning!

Hoi lo ("bribes") for things such as marrying a local (average 5 to 10 million VND in Da Nang or Ho Chi Minh) or a Red Book Registration allowing you to move into a house (maybe 800,000VND to 1.2 Million VND in Nha Trang or 1.5 milion VND in Ha Noi) are MUCH HIGHER in Hai Phong!

They go around a 40 million VND bribe (marrying a local) and 2.4 million VND (for obtaining a Red Book house resident registration) in Hai Phong!

2. Filthy and noisy!!

3. People there ARE NOT the most pleasant at all.....just ask Vietnamese residing ANYWHERE ELSE in Viet Nam what their opinion is about A) - Hai Phong City and B) - People from Hai Phong and the responses you get will be a real eye-opener for you, Mark!

4. EVERYTHING shuts down in Hai Phong between 9PM and 11PM at THEE latest!

5. Food there sucks (fortunately, my friends cook for me whenever I visit and stay at their houses).

Literally, I could go on and on and on - but I'd really like somebody else to jump into this discussion......[/list]

Haiphong is a nice place if you are a mafiaso.
Drugs flow freely, prostitution is open and blatant, contraband galore, AND believe it or not, according to a number of western embassies, most of Vietnams' "rip off" pay up marriages originate from there.
In fact, there is an unwritten rule in western embassies that a Viet woman seeking a married visa with a westerner or VK, has paid money to the mafia to "arrange" this. So applications from Haiphong receive very strict scrutiny. It also has the highest incidence of fraud in visa applications, not in Vietnam, not in Asia, but in the world.
There MAY be some honest people living there, but I never met one, nor met anyone who has.
In the street, a drugged out beggar asked me for money because he was hungry- I gave him a bread stick and he threw it on the ground and asked for money instead- Maybe he had strange taste buds.
Nice people, nice place.

Yeah, if you exclude the [EXTREMELY OVERPRICED] Parkson Centre mall, the bowling alley and the Big C (which are literally thee three only sources of amusement in Hai Phong) - Bac Ninh is more fun and interesting than Hai Phong is....

In fact, there is an unwritten rule in western embassies that a Viet woman seeking a married visa with a westerner or VK, has paid money to the mafia to "arrange" this. So applications from Haiphong receive very strict scrutiny. It also has the highest incidence of fraud in visa applications, not in Vietnam, not in Asia, but in the world.
.

The Vietnamese Government was placed in Tier 2 in the 2007 U.S. Department of State’s Trafficking in Persons Report for not complying with the Trafficking Victims Protection Act’s minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking… humantraffickingorganization.com

Just one of numerous entries by lawyers, state departments etc.
Want more, pm me.

I just got back from more than a year in Hai Phong. I had a blast. Of course, I'm the kind of guy that likes hanging around in dive bars and tent restaurants.

Seriously though, don't believe the haters. It's dirty, corrupt, risky, and amazing. There's ZERO tourism, which means the locals aren't trying to hustle you all the time like in Hanoi and Hoi An. They're curious, friendly, and they don't treat foreigners like a walking billfold. It's the kind of place where you have to make your own fun - get a bike, make some friends, explore the town and countryside around it.

Hai Phong is real waterfront Vietnam. Full of sailors and gangsters. It's not dressed up or laid out on a platter, and it has a bad reputation. Good. Hopefully that reputation will keep the softies out.

I've driven through Haiphong and that's pretty much the limit of my personal experience with the city. However, I do know some people who have worked and lived there quite well and, overall, they seemed to have enjoyed the experience. They also said that the locals there were amazingly friendly and welcoming.